The Rhyme of the Reddleman’s Daughter (V-VII)Part V But in the far off distance I saw a whirling wind; far out on the horizon, I saw…
Filthy with Erotic MysteryJonathan Bate, Ted Hughes, The Unauthorised Life, William Collins, 2015, 672pp, £25 (hardback) First, a few confessional words: I was…
The Rain HorseFrom our archives – this short story was first published by The London Magazine in February 1960. As the young…
The RatThe landlady watches herself in the living room mirror, phone held to her ear. In the blurred morning light her…
The Ritual Landscapes of Pre-Roman BritainMany academic phrases, like much academic writing, are too awkward, verbose and cumbersome to find their way into common usage.…
Grappling with Structure Giacometti: Pure Presence, National Portrait Gallery, London, until 10th January 2016 Giacometti lived a peculiarly double life, despite his…
Painterly Figuration Eileen Hogan, Browse & Darby, London, 9 September – 2 October 2015 Julian Perry, Mascalls Gallery, Paddock Wood, Kent,…
Hemingway, Cézanne and the Dark Secret We dance round in a ring and suppose, But the Secret sits in the middle and knows. Robert Frost, ‘The Secret…
Infinite ArchiveDisinformation, Frances Leviston, Picador, 2015, 80pp, £9.98 (paperback) Kim Kardashian’s Marriage, Sam Riviere, Faber, 2015, 112pp, £10.99 (paperback) These two…
Beneath the CrustGoya – The Portraits, National Gallery, London, until 10 January 2016 To most, the mention of the name Francisco Goya…
Ghostly MentorComplete Poems, Muriel Spark, Carcanet, 2015, afterword by Michael Schmidt, 133pp, £14.99 (paperback) Complete Poems, R.F. Langley, Carcanet, 2015, edited…
My LondonJennifer Johnson has always lived in London, except for a few years spent in Brussels and Oxford. She is currently…
Neat Shape?Gimson’s Kings and Queens: Brief lives of the monarchs since 1066, Andrew Gimson, Square Peg, 2015, 256pp, £10.99 (hardback) Penguin…
Faithful and DisappointingThe Importance of Elsewhere – Philip Larkin’s Photographs, Richard Bradford, Frances Lincoln, 2015, 208pp, £25 (hardcover) © The Estate of…
Snow Ice CreamThe snow of ’88 was the one that everybody remembers. Nixxon and I had cheap, roll-up plastic sleds that endlessly…
UnderCrammed up against the end of the carriage on the Hammersmith & City, as we head underground I hear an…
FinThat’ll be my heartbeat clicking in my throat as we cartwheel to our expiry date. Are you trying to be…
Wishing Tree at the Dargah of Hazrat Moosa SuhaagTo Heba Ahmed for the story Many wishful bellies Offer their bangles, Green, not with envy But melancholy, Of childless…
The Ideal Conditions for Reading this PoemYou’ll be sitting in a bar that used to be a brothel or at least that markets itself as such…
Ikey’s Bones– What was your offence? – Receiving stolen property. – And who is with you? – I have one girl,…
Mocking GodsLost in the library of Alexandria, proof Selene the moon goddess mocked Apollo her sun god twin, each mocking the…
Spare RoomTrees scratch at the panes with bony branches Tap away time, and its second chances. Strange. This bed is disused,…
One Night OnlyToo few saw you in your last theatre role, the affected hero of La Forêt mouillée, Victor Hugo’s seldom-performed verse…
LucipherThe name we went by when we shared an address @compuserve. you thought of it. Straight away, I adored its…
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